Grand Prix Rejects

As millions of cans of a certain fizzy drink are snatched out of supermarkets worldwide, you are once again invited to vote for the Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race, a democratically-decided award

based on the assumption that, at any moment in time, there is a non-zero probability that even the slowest, most inexperienced and least reliable of underdogs might win the race. That under every rock, there might be a gold nugget. This is the award for that first podium that we all celebrate, for the overtake no-one was expecting, for Nico Rosberg's first win. This is the award, in short, for the driver or team that makes you go "Woah! Where did THAT come from?!".

Just remember: this is a feel-good award, that will focus on nothing but track action.

Usual rules: everyone gets two votes. First vote is worth 10 points, the second 6.

1st (10 points): Hulkenberg who not only drove brilliantly for pole, he also drove a great race and kept Kubica's Renault in check.

2nd (6 points): Mercedes for being Best of the Rest.

Hülkenberg and Mercedes.

Hulkenburg: From F1 Garbage to F1 Championship material, he clinched pole position... and did nothing else, but still drove solidly. Too bad he didn't have a good car during the race.

Red Bull: Hooray, they actually kept a 1-2 for once!

Nothing too improbable in the race, so I'm basing my results on qualifying:

1. Hulkenberg

2. Schumacher

1. Hulkenberg - Again, little to note in the race so I'll give it to him based on qualifying.
2. Massa - Not necessarily a good drive but an exciting one with his constant battles with the midfield drivers.

Hulkenberg.

And that's it.

Hulk

1. Hülkenberg - pole position says it all
2. Red Bull - thank you for the fair game

no really improbable today, so Hulk still gets my 10

6 for Sutil for overtaking Buemi with that "car"

1. Hulkenberg
2. Reilabilty - only one DNF due to a crash.

Hulkenberg - 4 cars ahead of him to unrejectify himself maybe too much for him, but P8 was the best for the rest of the bunch.
Rosberg - Great recovery from his worst qualify of the season. (Not gonna say Mercedes since Schumi stuck behind Sutil for laps and laps even with fresh tyres.)

1. Hulk for a great pole and for not bottling it in the race. I still don't know whether he'll be there next year but if he is, this weekend will have matured him as a driver.

Second nomination is between Button, Rosberg and Sutil who both advanced through the field.

2. Button. Uncomfortable qualifying, gets dudes with machine guns coming after him, wakes up next morning, goes from 11th to 5th. He had the car to do it, but so did Massa, and look what happened there. Good work nonetheless.

1. Hulkenberg, it simply has to be, even if his race wasn't the best, he did a sterling job, especially whilst Rubens managed to get in all sorts of mess. Great job.

2. Button, another poor qualifying, and having come through a brush with some gunmen to pull off a good strategy call and push Lewis all the way to the end was a good day's work for the outgoing champion. He put on a brave face when asked about 'loosing the championship' but I bet he's gutted inside. He's a fighter and overall he's had a good year with a bit of bad luck. Better luck next year Jenson.

NOT the Hulk - pole to P8 was always on the cards, so not improbable at all.

I'll go for...

1. Jenson Button - brilliant call on tyres to come in early and some good overtakes, also bear in mind his preparation was far from ideal

2. Adrian Sutil - good climb through the midfield

Taking it over the whole weekend, you can't really look past Hulkenberg. Yeah, maybe 8th place was a little underwhelming after a pole position. But if it'd been offered to him, or any Williams fans at the start of the weekend, they'd have taken it and thought 'good race'.

2nd place: Mercedes

1. Hulkenberg - Ok, so he dropped from P1 to P8 but he kept Robert Kubica behind him and moved Williams ahead of Force India in the standings.

2. Button - Because nobody else did anything noteworthy

Button - Drove really well, some good overtakes reminding us that he HAS got skill despite what some folks think and clearly would've been at least 4th if he'd been allowed to get past Lewis. Oh sorry, what am I saying, McLaren NEVER USE TEAM ORDERS. Ahem, got a bit sidetracked there....

Rosberg - 2 pit stops in successive laps and no loss of position?! OK, it was under the SC but I think that's pretty improbable in anybody's book. Plus he got ahead of Schumacher with a combination of skill and strategy.

AndreaModa wrote:1. Hulkenberg, it simply has to be, even if his race wasn't the best, he did a sterling job, especially whilst Rubens managed to get in all sorts of mess. Great job.

2. Button, another poor qualifying, and having come through a brush with some gunmen to pull off a good strategy call and push Lewis all the way to the end was a good day's work for the outgoing champion. He put on a brave face when asked about 'loosing the championship' but I bet he's gutted inside. He's a fighter and overall he's had a good year with a bit of bad luck. Better luck next year Jenson.

DITTO THAT

Hulkenberg - I didn't think he'd be able to defend from Alonso and co. for that long.
The lack of engines going KABOOM! - Would've made the race more interesting, but still surprising.

1. Nico Hulkenberg: Got the job done in qualifying and kept most of the midfield at bay during the race.
2. Jenson Button: Turned his horrible weekend around by finishing 5th in the race.

1. Hülkenberg - Amazing perfomance in quali. And although he couldn't surprise in the race, he did what he needed to and now Williams is in front of Force India and likely to stay there. Goals for the weekend more than reached. The whole team should be delighted.

2. Button - Poor qualifying, yet fired up for the race. Good overtaking and strategy.

1. Hulkenburg-for reasons well known
2. Button- for going through the field quite well after a bad quali.

jackanderton wrote:He had the car to do it, but so did Massa, and look what happened there. Good work nonetheless.

Massa was ahead of Button though before his wheel failure

I understand that Button got past him, but that was mainly due to Massa braking extremely early because he knew he had a problem, not to mention that he lost more time on the pit exit almost putting it into the wall.

Button for me - it was all looking a bit rejectful, then Bingo, right up behind Hamilton.

I'm almost tempted to change my IIDOR vote to Bernie Ecclestone, for this gem of a comment:

Bernie wrote:They look for victims, they look for anyone that looks like a soft touch and not too bright. The people that look a bit soft and simple, they will always have a go at. I think here for the race weekend they probably watch TV and see who’s not qualified in the top ten and think, ‘well they must be a bit stupid otherwise they would qualify in the top ten obviously’. So they are victims.”

P_Friesacher wrote:I'm almost tempted to change my IIDOR vote to Bernie Ecclestone, for this gem of a comment:

Bernie wrote:They look for victims, they look for anyone that looks like a soft touch and not too bright. The people that look a bit soft and simple, they will always have a go at. I think here for the race weekend they probably watch TV and see who’s not qualified in the top ten and think, ‘well they must be a bit stupid otherwise they would qualify in the top ten obviously’. So they are victims.”

Was Bernie talking about the FIA ?

Ross Prawn wrote:Was Bernie talking about the FIA ?

No, the local criminals that targeted Button, the Sauber mechanics etc.

Ed24 wrote:

Ross Prawn wrote:Was Bernie talking about the FIA ?

No, the local criminals that targeted Button, the Sauber mechanics etc.

Ah, thanks. (Makes note to use smiley face next time he tries a joke.)

1) Nico Hulkenberg: While the race performance was nothing too special once Hamilton got past him, the pole position was a work of art, and he did have a slightly sub-par car.

2) Jenson Button: A good strategic drive, demonstrating the McLaren's better race pace and perhaps better overall team strategy than some of the other teams.

1. Button - IIDOTR
2. The Incredible Hulk - IIDOTQ

dr-baker wrote:1. Button - IIDOTR
2. The Incredible Hulk - IIDOTQ

I concur.

Well, that was painless:



Anyone had any doubts? Seriously?

I don't really see how Hülkenberg has been driving so improbably well, alright, he had a good race, but it wasn't really improbable. Having started from pole position, it could've been lots better.

Remember, it's Infinite Improbability Drive of the RACE, not of the Weekend!

Waris wrote:I don't really see how Hülkenberg has been driving so improbably well, alright, he had a good race, but it wasn't really improbable. Having started from pole position, it could've been lots better.

Remember, it's Infinite Improbability Drive of the RACE, not of the Weekend!

Weeeeell... nobody did anything more amazing than Hilkenberg scoring that pole all weekend. Also, the fact he defended hard bur fair without resorting to any mode of kerb-hopping is in itself improbable. He also managed to keep Hamilton behind him up to the pit stops, which isn't what I'd normally expect. And he held up Kubica afterwards, despite the fact Robert was very fast on the way up to the Senna Esses, while Hulkenberg was running loads of wing himself (read this on Autosport.).

Sure, it was only 8th place but it was a good display all things considered.

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Waris wrote:I don't really see how Hülkenberg has been driving so improbably well, alright, he had a good race, but it wasn't really improbable. Having started from pole position, it could've been lots better.

Remember, it's Infinite Improbability Drive of the RACE, not of the Weekend!

Weeeeell... nobody did anything more amazing than Hilkenberg scoring that pole all weekend. Also, the fact he defended hard bur fair without resorting to any mode of kerb-hopping is in itself improbable. He also managed to keep Hamilton behind him up to the pit stops, which isn't what I'd normally expect. And he held up Kubica afterwards, despite the fact Robert was very fast on the way up to the Senna Esses, while Hulkenberg was running loads of wing himself (read this on Autosport.).

Sure, it was only 8th place but it was a good display all things considered.

Oh well, I guess it's still merited since no one else did anything more improbable. And you're right, he drove very solidly for a rookie.
EDIT: I'd like to add to that, I missed Kobayashi in Brazil! Where was he?!

Waris wrote:Oh well, I guess it's still merited since no one else did anything more improbable. And you're right, he drove very solidly for a rookie.
EDIT: I'd like to add to that, I missed Kobayashi in Brazil! Where was he?!

He spent all race being overtaken by McLarens sadly.

Wizzie wrote:

Waris wrote:Oh well, I guess it's still merited since no one else did anything more improbable. And you're right, he drove very solidly for a rookie.
EDIT: I'd like to add to that, I missed Kobayashi in Brazil! Where was he?!

He spent all race being overtaken by McLarens sadly.

He tried to pull a Valencia, started on the hard tyre, but sadly didn't have the go to pull it off. He got 9th or 10th, didn't he? Decent, non-stellar result.

CarlosFerreira begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting wrote:

Wizzie wrote:

Waris wrote:Oh well, I guess it's still merited since no one else did anything more improbable. And you're right, he drove very solidly for a rookie.
EDIT: I'd like to add to that, I missed Kobayashi in Brazil! Where was he?!

He spent all race being overtaken by McLarens sadly.

He tried to pull a Valencia, started on the hard tyre, but sadly didn't have the go to pull it off. He got 9th or 10th, didn't he? Decent, non-stellar result.

He finished 10th after passing Alguersuari with a few laps to go (He must be kicking himself now... that's the third point he's lost in 3 races)

Wizzie wrote:He finished 10th after passing Alguersuari with a few laps to go (He must be kicking himself now... that's the third point he's lost in 3 races)

That was his punishment for driving like a fool during the race.